Series: Jeremiah
Finding Our Prophetic Voice
VBC
Pastor John Johnson
Jeremiah 18:1-12
November 3-4, 2012
“Are You Letting God Shape You?”
BOA—maybe you should review your procedures
-Jeremiah at times felt God should review His procedures
-things didn’t make sense—he experienced the kind of pain that wouldn’t go away
-commanded to places he didn’t want to go
-in Jeremiah 18, the prophet was assigned another field trip—another sermon—read
verses 1-4
-maybe Jeremiah was a visual learner
-it was not enough to hear from God—there was something he needed to see
-the yotzer, the potter was in his studio on his wheel
-and likely, Jeremiah was already familiar—making pottery was an ancient and
necessary occupation
-a fixture in most every village
-he had seen potter’s shape their formless mass—using their hands, their fingers,
their minds and artistic imaginations
-pressure here—a little there—and this amorphous matter begins to take shape
-a design in the potter’s mind will soon be formed, painted, glazed, and fired
-something will be made—both for usefulness and delight
-but on this occasion—something went wrong
-there was a flaw in the vessel he was making
-something polluted, something corrupt—something was not right with the clay—it
started to lean, topple over
-was it foreign matter that compromised this mud?
-was the clay itself bad? Too dry, making it hard to shape?
-too wet, making it hard to work with?—we’re not told
-what we know is that the potter did not give up—yet!!
-he chose to rework the same clay, reshape it into something else
-something that still pleased him—something that seemed “right”
-something that fit the texture of the clay—as well as the potter’s purpose
-and Jeremiah must have assumed that God was using this for something
-calling him to be unusually attentive—use his imagination
-move beyond the commonplace, the banal—the mess!!
1
-look for what God might be saying—because He speaks in the common, the
everyday— things that are unpredictable, unforeseen
Illustration—Dorothy and her kitchen—as I listened
-there was something far deeper than the kitchen God wanted me to see, hear
-just as in this setting–read verses 5-6
-what appears to emerge are four lessons—
POTTERY LESSON ONE—IT’S THE POTTER’S PREROGATIVE TO MAKE WHAT HE
WANTS
-it’s a lesson directed to the nation—one it had not learned!
-forming and shaping people, nations, wills, futures are part of God’s divine
prerogative
-it puts an end to every boast—silences every assumption of human sovereignty
-reminds us of this truth—“The world’s cemeteries are filled with indispensable men”
-you may assume your independence, your autonomy, your self-sufficiency
-but like every nation, every single created being—you are subservient to God’s
imagination, His purpose, His artistic will and work
-He has the supreme right to give each of His creations a specific shape and
purpose according to His will
-but sadly—Israel, like so many today, rejected this
-assumed her own sovereignty—her own divinity
Illustration—like the man on the hillside—I am God
-the prophet Isaiah captures the common assumptions of the day—
-Isaiah 29:16—“They do their works in darkness and say—who sees? Who knows?
You have turned things around as if the potter were the same as the clay. How can
what is made say about its Maker, He didn’t make me…He doesn’t understand what
He is doing?”
-don’t you understand—we’re just a random collection of cells?
-and then Isaiah gives this warning—
-Isaiah 45:9—“Woe to the one who argues with his Maker—one clay pot among
many.
Does the clay say to the one forming it: What are you making? Or does your work
say: He has no hands?”
-Israel failed to understand this truth—
-Isaiah 64:8—“Yet Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay and you are our Potter;
we all are the work of Your hands”
-God wanted Jeremiah to know this from the beginning
-it was God’s first statement to Jeremiah—before I shaped (yatzar) you in the womb,
I knew you—Jeremiah 1:4
-Jeremiah was on the potter’s wheel before birth—as is true of all of us
2
-we are all unique, with the imprint of His fingerprints—made with special lines and
colors—for divine use
-shifting metaphors, God again affirms His sovereign role—to do what He wills—
read verse 7
-in a moment, in an instant, I may uproot, tear down, destroy
-this is the Creator’s privilege, entitlement—Isaiah 40:21-26
-princes and prime ministers and corporate czars power brokers with their massive
egos are like fragile plants can be reduced in a matter of moments to worthless
chaff—or plants to be thrown in a pile
-this is God again confronting any assumption that the Potter and the clay are equal,
or that the Potter is unable, or that He has no hands
-but there’s another lesson here—
POTTERY LESSON TWO—THE INTEGRITY OF THE CLAY CAN ALTER THE
POTTER’S ULTIMATE AIM
-he might have started with the goal of making a beautiful vase that will now become
a plate
-there are a number of reasons—
1. the clay may not have the consistency that allows the potter to do his severe
work
-a potter must work from the inside out—this is where his hands do his main work
of shaping, smoothing
-and some clay may not withstand the interior work
2. the clay may not have the consistency that allows the potter to center it—the
hardest work
-only when the vessel is centered—all of it— can the potter do his best work
-otherwise the walls will be uneven—may eventually collapse
-just as the potter must reshape the clay—so God may have to reshape us due
to our own flaws
-impurities that have gotten in the clay
-be it sexual sin, greed, gossip, laziness, discontentment, anxiety,
ungratefulness, judgmentalism
-all of these can mess with the stability, the texture of the clay
-but here’s the comforting lesson of Jeremiah 18—
POTTERY LESSON THREE-THE POTTER CAN STILL DO SOMETHING GOOD
WITH DEFECTIVE CLAY
-God can still make something that is “right” to him
-He will ultimately fulfill His purposes while He patiently and skillfully works with the
clay before Him
3
-He can take our idolatry and sin and make it work toward a greater good
-He can radically reshape the flawed clay of a persecuting like Paul, a tax collector
like Matthew, a slave trader like John Newton
-it’s what the Bible calls redemption, restoration
-18:4 points us to Jesus—whose saving work provides the possibility that we can be
re-shaped into His image
-in this context—God wanted Israel to know that even amidst the hopelessness—the
coming judgment—she could still be reshaped—but it is all conditional—read verses
8-11
-God can revise His threat just as easily as He can modify His promise—depending
on the heart
-God was clearly shaping judgment in Israel’s life—devising a plan against her—a
plan to uproot
-I am about to summon the kingdoms of the north and disaster—1:15; 4:6
-I am about to bring poisonous vipers—sling you out of the land—8:17—I am the
Potter remember—verse 6
-but if there is a turning back—
-He will give Israel shepherds loyal to God—and all the nations will be gathered to
Israel—3:14f
-take the ancient path and I will give you rest—and you will live—6:16; 7:3
-like the potter—I can still do something with you—that fulfills My sovereign will—if
you turn and repent
-God’s mercy always exceeds His wrath—read Psalm 51; John 3
-unfortunately—Israel’s response provides one more lesson
POTTERY LESSON FOUR—THE POTTER CAN DO NOTHING WITH HARDENED
CLAY
-sometimes there is nothing that can be done with the clay because of its
uncooperative, obstinate, unmanageable behavior—read verse 12
-this was Israel’s response to Jeremiah’s sermon—to hell with it! (actual language in
a Hebrew dictionary!)
-we prefer to be autonomous— refuse to yield to the hand of the potter
APPLICATION—there is something in human nature that is recalcitrant, rebellious
-that wants to do as it damn well pleases
-“In hell, the door is locked from the inside.”—C.S. Lewis
-something in us does not want the God who wants us
4
-the rich man, offered eternal life, chooses to walk away
-Paul could not persuade Agrippa
-and like many in our culture today—Israel did not want God
-but here’s the warning from the broader message of Jeremiah
-the potter is not committed to endlessly work with the clay—and once he quits, the
clay has no future
-rejecting truth over time can make the heart unable to receive it
-you will listen and never understand, for your heart is calloused—Matt 13
-pay attention to what you hear—for to the one who does not have, what he has
will be taken away—Mark 4:25
-Romans 1—for though they knew God—they did not glorify Him, and because
they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God—He delivered them over to a
worthless mind
CONCLUSION
What’s the lesson for us?
God can still do something—let’s let this be our national prayer—a call for turning
5